The Next Part of Perfect Storm Pushes Wally West To His Limits (The Flash #41 Comic Review)

Last time: When Gorilla Grodd freezes all of Central City in time and stole Barry Allen’s speed, the duty to restore the city to normal and protect the mantle of the Flash lay to one man: Wally West.

This time: Team Flash conducts a series of tests back at headquarters in order to confirm the unfortunate; despite having residual Speed Force energy in his system, Barry has indeed lost his speed for now. Wally assures the group that he’s got this handles, and runs off to dispel the somewhat hopeless mood between young Wally and Avery. By getting Barry the Weather Wizard’s wand that Grodd’s team used to cause the Speed Force storm again, Barry wonders if he needs to use it to restore himself to power and take on Grodd first-hand. After a spat between the two speedsters, Barry ends up heading to Iron Heights on a secret and dangerous mission- releasing Godspeed, the Flash readies himself to take on a new partner.

Reed Strong’s Strong Read: To put things on the table first, speedster Barry ain’t going anywhere anytime soon. But besides that, this issue continues to help draw a realistic gap between the two fundamentally different speedsters of Barry and Wally, as well as let the supporting cast shine in these really dark moments. The pacing in having this book be a literal race against time really shows in the utter bleakness that is Central City, and how much all the characters really recognize they have at stake here. There’s a sense of fear that’s not present in many Flash stories; and if there’s something Gorilla Grodd should be able to do, it’s to make you really tremble.